Asia

The Nestle management has forcibly locked out the 800 low paid contract
workers from the Kabirwala factory since September 2015. Management
instructed the gate security to stop the workers entering the factory –
none of the workers were notified of the termination of their contract
prior to this.

These low paid, poor workers and their families are facing hunger and
starvation because of forced sackings. They waged a protest outside the
factory gates for 48 days. These protests were broken up with the help
of police. Now, the management is witch-hunting union (employees’ trades
union at the Nestle Kabirwala factory) leaders and other key union
activists with the help of Police. Accusations have been filed at the
police station against 89 key union activists. The President of the
union, Muhammad Hussain Bhatti, is already behind bars for more than one
month. He and others also face draconian “anti-terrorism laws”.

The Nestle management signed an agreement with the union in 2012 in
which it was agreed that the management would regularise the services of
588 contract workers and that they would get all benefits provided for
under the labour laws. Now, the management is violating the agreement
and trying to replace the contract labour in violation of this agreement.

Nestle workers action committee is demanding

1. All contract workers should be regularised.

2. Management should lift the ban on workers entry into the factory, and
allow them to return to work.